Australia’s Renewable Energy Target Delivers Highest Power Prices in the World

“What Judith gets right is that it would not matter how many wind turbines are clustered across the Eastern Grid, when the wind stops blowing, the power stops flowing (see above).”

Chris Kenny, from today’s Aussie, lands the killer – RET – blow…

“The largest single factor in the power crisis is the renewable ­energy target demanding 23 per cent of electricity be supplied by renewables, which are subsidised by consumers. When the renew­ables (mainly wind turbines) supply power they can do so at zero cost, thereby undercutting the viability of baseload generators and hastening their demise. The trouble is renewable ­energy can’t supply all our needs at any time and, crucially, is intermittent and unreliable. So we still need all of the baseload and peaking generation.”

STT has been battling this for years. We have attempted to throw every sound and reasoned argument against subsidised wind power, but the single most damaging feature of attempting to rely on the weather for power is the obscene cost. In short, the headline grabber is always, and everywhere, retail power prices.

No amount of political flummery, no amount of wishful thinking about pumped hydro or non-existent mega-batteries can overcome the damage done by a rocketing power bill. Over the next few weeks Australian households and businesses will tear open envelopes to reveal an invoice from AGL, Origin and the like, fully 20% higher than this time last year (the underlying rate of inflation in Australia is around 1.5%). The damage done to the case for subsidised wind and solar is permanent and fatal.

The Australian’s Judith Sloan is absolutely on fire at the moment. Here she is with another…